Making a Trailer-Queen a Daily Driver. '88 Runner

[4bt40]

Hello, my name is Alex. I live in Norman, OK, and I have a Toyota problem. :wave: I work as an Oil and Gas Landman, and my only kids are my vehicles. Currently I have a 1970 FJ40 and a 1988 4Runner. My 40 has been calling my driveway home for the last 8 years, and my 4Runner for the last 7 months. I picked up the 4Runner to give the FJ40 a break. We used to wheel the heck out of the 40, and I recently decided she needed a little more TLC and fewer trail scars.

I posted an introduction in the "New Members" area, but I thought that maybe the classic section would be more appropriate to talk about my old Yotas. I will try and keep track of things and let this be my build thread.

I have always done all of the work myself on the FJ40, and I decided this time around I wanted something with a lot of the large items already finished, so that I could just clean it up, add some stuff, make it reliable, and take it wheeling. I found a killer deal on an '88 4Runner with quite a few goodies, and I couldn't pass it up.

My goal with this 4runner is to transform it from something that previously was trailered around, to something that I can drive anywhere and go anywhere. Most people look at me like I'm crazy, but I daily drive the 4runner and love every second of it. And to be quite frank, the good ole 22re in it doesn't get too poor of mileage, even with the Auto (I've just got to keep myself convinced of that lol).

Some things it had done to it when I bought it:
Solid Axle swap
All-Pro Hi steer
Exo-cage that allows removal of the hard top.
37" Iroks on Wagon Wheels
5.29 gears with Aussie front and rear
A340H Auto
Rebuilt 22re
Longfields

What I have done since I bought it:
Rebuilt the rear 3rd with new 5.29 R&P and bearings
New Koyo bearings for the rear axle, New axle seals/O-ring
Put on Rear V6 4runner disc brakes
1" bore Master Cylinder
Ditched the Superwinch manual hubs for Aisins
Put Rory's Rail shifter on it (RaDesigns)
4 new FJ80 TRE's for the Hi Steer
Replaced all of the vacuum lines in the engine bay
New AFM
New Ignition Coil
New Plug Wires
New 02 Sensor
Made my own solid transmission mount using an old mount as a template
New Superwinch Tigershark 9500 (has been a very good winch)
Rebuilt front U-joints
Fixed rear power window
Add LED's here and there
I may have left something out, but that pretty well covers it.

Here is a pic of the FJ40, whom the 4Runner is giving some much needed relief to.


Here are some pics of the 4Runner.





Pulling out a Rover:


Carrying the dirtbike to and from the trails.

The manual (Rail) shifter setup.

Rebulding the rear axle/3rd and adding disc brakes.




I do like my goofy stickers.



And the name is "Jiminy" because it sounds like a cricket a lot of the time with the noises it makes. :driving:


I will try and keep this thread updated as I progress. I have a lot in store for the 4Runner. Currently I have a 23 Spline marlin 4.7 case that will be going behind the A340H with an inchworm adapter. I am going to rebuild the front 3rd with new bearings/gears to freshen it up. Going to try and snag a softopper this summer. I have a warn bumper that i need to modify slightly before welding everything up. And some other things here and there. Look forward to seeing some of you on the trails! :cheers:

 

[parkay]

Wow. Sweet rides.

 

[541joseph]

More picks of the fj please that looks awesome so does the runner but I really love fj 40s

 

[fo' runnin']

It's about time, ya jackass!

 

[4bt40]

Thanks fellas! The FJ40 is my baby, and that's part of the reason I wanted to give her a break and spread the offroading duties out a little. And I've always wanted a 1st Gen 4Runner.

It has an SBC 350, SM465, snorkel, dual batteries, locked front and rear, warn m8274, 38" TSL's, trac-bar, full cage, 5 point harnesses, lockable center console, FJ60 heater, custom dash, 4 wheel disc brakes. Its a hoot.

Here are a few more pics of old red. Some are from a little while back.





The dash






Here's the cage I made for it


With the hardtop on.

 

[Hyde802]

Welcome! Cool fj and runner! Interested to see the inch worm adapter go in, we were just talking about this in another thread.

 

[541joseph]

Drool that fj looks great I'm jealous that thing is sick.

 

[4bt40]

Welcome! Cool fj and runner! Interested to see the inch worm adapter go in, we were just talking about this in another thread.

Thank you! I will make sure and document that process as well as I can, and post it in here. Wheeling with an auto sure is nice, and I think the 4.7 case with the 5.29s will be about spot on for what I want to do.

Drool that fj looks great I'm jealous that thing is sick.

I appreciate that Joseph! Many hours of my life have been poured into that FJ40. I'm glad others can appreciate it.

 

[KidVermicious]

Really nice trucks, I'm jealous too.

You said you were going to DD the 4Runner - how are you set up for hills? I haven't seen a 22RE/5.29/37s setup yet that could pull a hill at speed. I have two friends running 5.29/37s behind 22RE motors and they both flat tow their 4Runners to trails because they can't go for beans on the freeway. That's a teeny little motor, and you might find that 37s are just too much to keep it street friendly.

 

[4bt40]

Really nice trucks, I'm jealous too.

You said you were going to DD the 4Runner - how are you set up for hills? I haven't seen a 22RE/5.29/37s setup yet that could pull a hill at speed. I have two friends running 5.29/37s behind 22RE motors and they both flat tow their 4Runners to trails because they can't go for beans on the freeway. That's a teeny little motor, and you might find that 37s are just too much to keep it street friendly.

That was certainly a concern of mine from the get-go, however I've been driving it on the highway and around town quite a bit. The motor runs very strong for what it is; and while it does struggle on some of the longer uphill sections, it still maintains 60-65 without issue. I even can get her to cruise at 70-75 on some of the really flat and/or downhill sections of road. For a vehicle this tall, 65 seems to be plenty fast for me though. The manual converter lock switch i have allows me to keep the torque converter from locking too soon and bogging the motor down. When I approach an uphill section of road, I unlock the converter and let it downshift if necessary, then when I crest the ridge lock her back up. It has been working very well for the last 2,000 miles I've had it set up that way. This all goes without saying that the 22re certainly does have to work harder than I would like for it to at times.

 

[crash813]

You've have two very nice rides there. Have the front calipers been switched over to v6's yet? If not, you might consider swapping the front and backs....seems like you might have too much braking in the back vs. the front or a whole lot of wasted brake to proportion it out. You might also look at adding some removable tie ins from your exo to the stock roll bar to improve rigidity in case of a roll-over. Not a lot of cross support as is.

Looking forward to see what else you do to this thing.

 

[4bt40]

You've have two very nice rides there. Have the front calipers been switched over to v6's yet? If not, you might consider swapping the front and backs....seems like you might have too much braking in the back vs. the front or a whole lot of wasted brake to proportion it out. You might also look at adding some removable tie ins from your exo to the stock roll bar to improve rigidity in case of a roll-over. Not a lot of cross support as is.

Looking forward to see what else you do to this thing.

I appreciate the kind words, and thanks for the input! Yes the fronts are V6 Calipers and the rear has an aftermarket proportioning valve. She stops in a hurry now.
That's not a bad idea on the removable tie-in idea. Unfortunately, I bought the vehicle and it didn't have a stock roll bar in it. May have to try and find one locally. I also would like to eventually mount harnesses in the front and rear for passengers, I just haven't given much thought as to how I would make harness bars work with my current setup.

 

[4bt40]

It's about time, ya jackass!

Lol I just saw this! It did take me way to long to sign up on here.

 

[4bt40]

Reviving this from the dead. Have put in quite a bit of work on this thing in the last 10 months.

I put in a cb and was able to tuck it into the dash nicely. Have the firestick mounted out back.

Put in a deep cycle marine battery and isolator that would be dedicated to the big inverter and a few other small lights here and there. I had to get rid of the big factory intake box and extend the AFM harness to the other side. I made a new battery tray/hold down for the drivers side battery.

Making good use of the inverter over the holidays.

Had to weld some tabs to the exo-cage so I could mount up my Con-Ferr roof rack. Also mounted up the Hi-Lift out back behind the roof rack.

Took it out hunting this winter.

I installed some 2nd Gen rear seats and carpet that I found at the local LKQ salvage in really good condition. The only thing I had to modify was the height of the striker for the seats to lock down on. Everything else fit very well. I don't have any pics of the seats right now, I'll have to snap some.

Put on a new front bumper last week as well as installed an engnbldr rv cam and LCE adjustable cam gear.

She's a little too tall for the garage, so when the weather is bad I have to just pull the nose in lol.

Out with the old.

And in with the new.

Checking valve lash.

And then the timing. I gave her a little extra timing as I run 91 octane pure gas in it.

I've still got the Marlin 4.7, 23 spline case in the garage. I purchased the top shift conversion for it and here before too long I will be purchasing the inchworm adapter to put it behind the A340.

I also snagged some new looking chevy 63's off of what looked to be a garaged truck. The leafs still had all of their factory paint on them. Those will be going in here before too long as the stock rear leafs are just way too stiff.

Here are a few extra pics!

Thanks for looking! I'll try and keep this updated more frequently than once every 10 months.

 

[grumpin]

0 to 60
Eventually

That made me laugh!

Nice rigs, btw. I like your CB mount and huge inverter!

 

[4bt40]

0 to 60
Eventually

That made me laugh!

Nice rigs, btw. I like your CB mount and huge inverter!

Thanks for the compliments! Yeah, I thought that sticker was perfect, given how slow this sucker is at getting up to speed. That CB in the dash was a HUGE pain. I had to pull the dash apart, and then i had to take a heat gun to the air ducting and mold it to fit. In the end it turned out perfectly though!

 

[fo' runnin']

Love all these pics Shawn keeps snapping of it! Shes really looking good these days brother!

 

[4bt40]

Love all these pics Shawn keeps snapping of it! Shes really looking good these days brother!

Thanks amigo! Shawn is certainly a talented photographer.

 

[gtgt_bangbang]

Hello, my name is Alex. I live in Norman, OK, and I have a Toyota problem.

HI Alex. Boy o boyota , do you ever ...

 

[crash813]

Question on your exo-cage. Does it come apart to take the back off or do you have to slide it out the rear? Been thinking of doing something similar with possible disconnects to keep top removal easy.

Keep up the work.